news-record.com

GREENSBORO - Try as he might, Alex Moore still hadn't broken Dudley's starting lineup entering this season, even though he was a senior. Then, just as the schedule started, a mysterious stomach ailment latched on to presumptive starting quarterback Demetrius Dick, one that still hasn't let go. And Moore hasn't stopped running since.

Moore's second touchdown pass of the night - a 47-yard, fourth-down strike to David Amerson with just under three minutes to play - gave Dudley a dramatic 18-15

win over Page on Friday and a lock on the Metro 4-A Conference title.

"It's almost hard to put into words," Dudley head coach Steven Davis said of Moore, who completed 8-of-15 passes for 121 yards and carried 15 times for 70 yards. "He's stepped up when we needed all year long. The job is his now."

The game was in Page's hands, quite literally. The Pirates dropped two sure interceptions on the two plays right before the winning touchdown. The second was on the same route, a short third-down hitch by Amerson that cornerback Bruce McCoy jumped for an easy touchdown if he had held the ball. Davis decided to go right back to it but told Moore to pump fake on the curl and let the 6-foot-2 Amerson release down the sideline. McCoy slipped on the juke, and Amerson, who caught three passes for 72 yards, pulled in a perfectly floated pass and raced the final few yards to glory.

"I have to take credit - I did call that one," Davis said. "I try to stay out of the way of my offensive coordinator, but if I see something ... He had just broken on that route real good, so I called for a pop and go."

It was a wonder the Pirates were still hanging around that late after how poorly things started for them. They went three-and-out on their first series and bobbled the snap on their punt, giving Dudley the ball on the Page 26. Five plays later, Moore hit Amerson on a bubble screen for an 11-yard touchdown.

Page responded with a methodical 10-play drive highlighted by a 29-yard pass from James Summers to Justin Gorman, but Amerson blocked Austin Anthony's 28-yard field goal attempt after the Pirates failed to move the ball on a first-and-goal. Dudley made it 12-0 on a 7-yard scoring run by J.R. Peterson.

Page finally broke through three plays into the fourth on an 11-yard touchdown run by Summers, who carried 14 times for 70 yards and went 11-of-18 passing for 145 yards. The Pirates were forced to punt on their next drive, but Dudley fumbled the return at its own 30.

A fourth-and-goal stop by the Panthers was negated by a pass interference call, and Summers snuck in from a yard out to give Page its first lead with 4:41 remaining. The raucous Pirates sideline, which came just short of celebrating a conference crown for a second straight season, never would have believed that lead would last less than two minutes.

"I told them all week, it's going to come down to execution. And we missed some opportunities." Page head coach Kevin Gillespie said. "Against a team that good, you can't do that and expect to win."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com

D - David Amerson 11 pass form Alex Moore (pass failed)

D - J.R. Peterson 7 run (run failed)

P - James Summers 11 run (Austin Anthony kick)

P - Summers 1 run (Jeremy Collie pass from Summers)

D - Amerson 47 pass from Moore (pass failed)